SEGA confirms Alpha Protocol

SEGA has officially confirmed that Obsidian's new RPG is called Alpha Protocol and is about a secret agent called Michael Thorton.

That's "Thorton", not "Thornton", which only a massive idiot would ever assume and then make a rubbish joke about, obviously.

Anyway, Alpha Protocol is due out next year on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and in it Michael Thorton is a secret agent cast out by his government, which seems a bit short-sighted of them given that he's the only one who can stop an impending international catastrophe.

To do so, he must go against his training and so on, and the decisions you make in completing his objectives will shape the kind of agent Thorton becomes, in line with other actions-have-consequences RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic II.

According to magazine previews, combat will be real-time action from a third-person perspective, with lots of upgrades, and even a bit of romance aw.

"Alpha Protocol blends Obsidian's knack for intricate stories, engrossing characters, and significant character advancement with fast-paced modern combat," according to Feargus Urquhart, although he is CEO of Obsidian so he probably would say that.

"Alpha Protocol embraces everything we enjoy about making RPGs from a fresh perspective. We are confident our talented staff at Obsidian will enable us to deliver this exciting RPG experience."

Let's hope so - although if it turns out the impending international catastrophe is orcs and goblins we will not be impressed.